The Top-Performing ETFs by Sector

There have been a few surprises in leadership in some of the sector exchange traded funds that are gaining the attention of investors, observes Jim Lowell of Forbes ETF Advisor.

Once again, Rydex’s S&P Midcap 400 Pure Growth (RFG) has held onto the No. 1 spot in our rankings...but something has changed. This ETF has a new name, as do all “Rydex” funds.

That new name is Guggenheim. And although their fund names have changed, their investment strategies have not, so we expect the Guggenheim funds to continue to do well in our rankings.

Incidentally, another Guggenheim fund, the Guggenheim S&P 500 Pure Value (RPV), has taken second place. Coming in a distant third is the SPDR DJ Small Cap Value (SLYV), which jumped up from eighth place in the last rankings.

Small-cap ETFs continue to slowly make their way into our GQ portfolio, with two of the six equity funds being from the small cap camp.

Once more, our top international ETF’s have flip-flopped, with the iShares MSCI Spain (EWP) taking the top spot, as it did two rankings ago, and the PowerShares International Dividend Achievers (PID) slipping back into second. The iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan (EPP) continues on as the third-place contender with a comfortable lead ahead of the iShares MSCI France (EWQ).

The Power Shares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals (PJP) has managed to hold on to the top spot in the sector category, after overthrowing the iShares COMEX Gold Trust (IAU), which enjoyed a 1.5-year reign.

Not surprisingly, coming in second and third, once again, are the iShares COMEX Gold Trust and the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD). Additionally, PJP’s lead has lengthened quite a bit.

Continuing to demonstrate the pharmaceutical sectors potential, the iShares DJ US Pharmaceuticals (IHE) held onto its fourth-place spot.